40 Years Ago Today: The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
Nov 10, 2015 8:25:07 GMT -6
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Post by Webster Groves on Nov 10, 2015 8:25:07 GMT -6
"That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
When the gales of November came early"
I've always been rather fascinated by this tale of shipwreck, famously immortalized by Gordon Lightfoot. The haunting lyrics in his ballad fairly accurately tell the tale of the Edmund Fitzgerald, whose final voyage ended in disaster forty years ago today.
The Fateful Journey
"And every man knew, as the captain did too
'Twas the witch of November come stealin' "
Love or hate the song, it has some wonderfully descriptive turns of phrase for the weather:
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy
The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound
'Twas the witch of November come stealin'
When the gales of November came slashin'
When afternoon came it was freezing rain
In the face of a hurricane west wind
Does anyone know where the love of God goes
When the waves turn the minutes to hours?
Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
In the rooms of her ice-water mansion
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
With the gales of November remembered
When the gales of November came early"
I've always been rather fascinated by this tale of shipwreck, famously immortalized by Gordon Lightfoot. The haunting lyrics in his ballad fairly accurately tell the tale of the Edmund Fitzgerald, whose final voyage ended in disaster forty years ago today.
The Fateful Journey
"The final voyage of the Edmund Fitzgerald began November 9, 1975 at the Burlington Northern Railroad Dock No.1, Superior, Wisconsin. Captain Ernest M. McSorley had loaded her with 26,116 long tons of taconite pellets, made of processed iron ore, heated and rolled into marble-size balls. Departing Superior about 2:30 pm, she was soon joined by the Arthur M. Anderson, which had departed Two Harbors, Minnesota under Captain Bernie Cooper. The two ships were in radio contact....Weather conditions continued to deteriorate. Gale warnings had been issued at 7 pm on November 9, upgraded to storm warnings early in the morning of November 10. While conditions were bad, with winds gusting to 50 knots and seas 12 to 16 feet, both Captains had often piloted their vessels in similar conditions. In the early afternoon of November 10, the Fitzgerald had passed Michipicoten Island and was approaching Caribou Island. The Anderson was just approaching Michipicoten, about three miles off the West End Light.
Captain Cooper maintained that he watched the Edmund Fitzgerald pass far too close to Six Fathom Shoal to the north of Caribou Island. He could clearly see the ship and the beacon on Caribou on his radar set and could measure the distance between them. He and his officers watched the Fitzgerald pass right over the dangerous area of shallow water. By this time, snow and rising spray had obscured the Fitzgerald from sight, visible 17 miles ahead on radar...
According to Captain Cooper, about 6:55 pm, he and the men in the Anderson's pilothouse felt a "bump", felt the ship lurch, and then turned to see a monstrous wave engulfing their entire vessel from astern. The wave worked its way along the deck, crashing on the back of the pilothouse, driving the bow of the Anderson down into the sea.
"Then the Anderson just raised up and shook herself off of all that water - barrooff - just like a big dog. Another wave just like the first one or bigger hit us again. I watched those two waves head down the lake towards the Fitzgerald, and I think those were the two that sent him under."
Captain Cooper maintained that he watched the Edmund Fitzgerald pass far too close to Six Fathom Shoal to the north of Caribou Island. He could clearly see the ship and the beacon on Caribou on his radar set and could measure the distance between them. He and his officers watched the Fitzgerald pass right over the dangerous area of shallow water. By this time, snow and rising spray had obscured the Fitzgerald from sight, visible 17 miles ahead on radar...
According to Captain Cooper, about 6:55 pm, he and the men in the Anderson's pilothouse felt a "bump", felt the ship lurch, and then turned to see a monstrous wave engulfing their entire vessel from astern. The wave worked its way along the deck, crashing on the back of the pilothouse, driving the bow of the Anderson down into the sea.
"Then the Anderson just raised up and shook herself off of all that water - barrooff - just like a big dog. Another wave just like the first one or bigger hit us again. I watched those two waves head down the lake towards the Fitzgerald, and I think those were the two that sent him under."
"And every man knew, as the captain did too
'Twas the witch of November come stealin' "
Love or hate the song, it has some wonderfully descriptive turns of phrase for the weather:
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy
The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound
'Twas the witch of November come stealin'
When the gales of November came slashin'
When afternoon came it was freezing rain
In the face of a hurricane west wind
Does anyone know where the love of God goes
When the waves turn the minutes to hours?
Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
In the rooms of her ice-water mansion
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
With the gales of November remembered